If babies get antigens via breastmilk, why are we so careful introducing solids?

[chilliepepper]

Or maybe a better way to ask it would be why are we NOT more careful about what we (moms) eat?

I mean, I know the moms around here, we are careful what we eat in general. But it's not like we all go on elimination diets when our kids are born so that we can troubleshoot potential food allergies from the get go. Should we?

To me, all the cautions about introducing possible allergen foods to the baby just don't make sense when they've been getting all these things via breastmilk from day 1. If they had an allergy to x, surely it would have already manifested itself before they started solids, if it was in the mom's diet. In which case, if you knew what it was, you would already know to avoid it. If you didn't know what it was (as in our case), introducing foods one by one doesn't help because he's already reacting to something before he even had any solids, so how would we know if it was the food he was eating or the food I was eating?

I'm not suggesting that babies should start solids or a wider variety of solids earlier, I know you have to wait for gut closure and whatnot. I'm just talking about how even in the later part of the first year, we're advised to introduce foods one by one and wait a few days in between to look for allergy symptoms. It makes no sense to me, if I've been eating these things since day 1 and they really do affect babies via breastmilk.

I'm sure I'm missing something here...maybe somebody can fill in the gaps.:

[julie128]

I think it's more of a cultural thing than a health thing. I don't think table foods are anything to get worked up about. As long as you're not feeding them Frosted Flakes or juice or whatever other crap there is.

[Pookietooth]

It's due to the fact that babies lack enzymes to digest foods, and therefore would be even sicker with all the undigested food in their guts.

[wonderwahine]

i sorta did, i havent had nuts or nut butters since i got pregnant.

[Panserbjorne]

In theory they shouldn't be getting exposed to the foods through the milk...the proteins should only make it into the milk if mamas gut is leaking.

You will only see a baby react to the breastmilk if MOM has a gut problem.

[chilliepepper]

Originally Posted by Pookietooth

It's due to the fact that babies lack enzymes to digest foods, and therefore would be even sicker with all the undigested food in their guts.

I think you are referring to the reason that we don't introduce solids before 6 months...right?

I was actually trying to make sense of what I perceive as a contradiction between two things that we do:
1. Breastfeed our babies without worrying too much about what we eat (i.e. most of us don't eliminate all the high-allergen foods from our diets when we start bfing, "just in case" our babies might be allergic)
2. Introduce solids so carefully and methodically, watching for allergy responses after the introduction of each new food. If this is so important, it seems like #1 would be a dumb thing to do.

Waiting to introduce solids, that I get. And I also understand why we wait even later to introduce things like dairy, eggs etc. But why do we (most of us) go ahead and eat them while bfing?

Firefaery said...

In theory they shouldn't be getting exposed to the foods through the milk...the proteins should only make it into the milk if mamas gut is leaking.

You will only see a baby react to the breastmilk if MOM has a gut problem.

I've never heard this before. Can you explain more about how that works or refer me to something I could read about it?

Are you saying that for all of us who have done elimination diets to try to pinpoint our babies' food allergies, that the real problem is our leaky guts, and nothing wrong with the babies? So...does this mean that if I have a leaky gut, my baby is as a result going to be getting exposed to certain foods way too early, and as a result of that could DEVELOP allergies which might not have developed otherwise?

Oh...FWIW, I myself have no symptoms of leaky gut.

I'm totally joking when I say this, but it almost starts to make formula sound good. : JOKING! HAHAHAHAHA!

[Panserbjorne]

You can read ALL about it in the Healing the Gut thread. You don't need to have symptoms for it to be happening. I'm sure you'll get a million responses here though.

And yes, the problem is your leaky gut. The babies are more reactive given that they were also grown in your body, but they are acutally sensitized through the BM.

It's less about the babies being exposed to the proteins in your milk as I understand it as it is about you passing antibodies through your breastmilk that tell their bodies to react to those particular foods.

When you have a reactive baby it's a sign to heal yourself.

[chilliepepper]

Wow.

Yeah I've been reading up on the HTG stuff but there's so much there---it's overwhelming. I hadn't yet come across baby's allergies being a sign of a problem with mom. Or maybe it was right there and I totally missed it.

So...I'm just curious...if the problem is with me, do you think my kids (2y and 9m) will get better when I wean them, or is the damage already done? Are their allergies here to stay? I think that's the case, if I'm understanding you correctly.:

I know I'm probably sounding really ignorant. I am.

[chilliepepper]

And...

So I can have the antibodies in my breastmilk, even if I have no allergies myself?

[JaneS]

It's not in black and white in the cheat sheet beyond post #20 about infants and gut flora. How nature has designed their gut to seal up with bifidobacterium and breastmilk with special type of lactose that encourages bifido growth. The book "Bacteria for Breakfast" also has clues (based on peer reviewed research) about how the gut flora sets up and directs the immune system. There's also a lot of discussion in the "How not to have an allergic child" thread and previous HTG threads.

It's the chicken and the egg once you have a problem. But the root cause I think is really what immune system/gut flora/nutritional bank account your child has inherited and maintained.

Several IBCLC's on Lactnet have advocated digestive enzymes for mom to help reduce allergenic proteins being passed into their milk and thus perpetuating reactions in their children.

The 9 month old might have a better chance to grow out of allergies but the 2yo is certainly well away from their immune system maturation date of 6-7.

No one knows for sure how you get a child to achieve oral tolerance of foods. But gut flora, bifidobacterium dominance, and surely whether they are digesting their food proteins adequately must be key factors based on what is already known.

[JaneS]

Originally Posted by chilliepepper

And...

So I can have the antibodies in my breastmilk, even if I have no allergies myself?

If you have antibodies you have allergic reactions period. Whether histamines or antibodies themselves (not food proteins) create a reaction in a bf baby I don't know. (if that is what you are asking?)

I do know allergic reactions are sometimes mediated by the amount of food given, less is sometimes better tolerated.

But given Insider's posts on "How not to have an allergic child" thread, you can have the food proteins hanging around in your body for several years even if you are not eating them currently and he specifically said you can not eat eggs and still produce an infant with an egg allergy.

[USAmma]

My child has an eosinophilic disorder (read: severe food allergies), and many kids with her disorder cannot take breastmilk. I have known women on-line who drink the special hypoallergenic formula so their baby can drink breastmilk and not get sick on it. That's how bad it can get with eos disorders.

I have heard of many cases of just plain allergies where the moms have had to be very careful with what they eat. In Indian culture and a lot of other cultures the mom is put on a very bland diet during her breastfeeding time and only gradually expands her diet as the baby gets past 6 months to a year. They do this even if the baby is not showing signs of allergies.

Enzymes will break down the foods to a point, but certain things do get through breastmilk even if mom does not have a digestive problem. I mean, when I was pumping milk I could smell curry powder in the milk. People who eat garlic will start to smell like garlic. Things come out in the pores and breasts are basically specialzed pores.

[Roxswood]

In general in England now we're given the advice to let our little ones choose what they eat, and as long as they're past 6 months there is really no need to introduce one new food at a time as long as they're given finger foods seperately to enable them to choose what they eat and how much of each if you see what I mean.

DD didn't choose to eat using this method until 20 months but she has no signs of allergy now.